


You Can Run Away From Me, But You Can't Hide

by nilshki



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: 9-1-1 Crack Week (9-1-1 TV), 9-1-1 Crack Week 2020, Crack, Eddie Diaz is a Mind Reader, M/M, Mind Reading, day 7: free choice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:54:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27791860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nilshki/pseuds/nilshki
Summary: Eddie has a new talent, which may end up being very useful.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 282





	You Can Run Away From Me, But You Can't Hide

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt and inspiration from phreakycat on the Buddie Discord!!
> 
> Huge thanks to beta reader [ Jamie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jamb/pseuds/jamb)! 
> 
> Title is from [Mind Reader by Eleri Ward](https://open.spotify.com/track/5z1xPRMHjFZXtRPEO1uLAO?si=Rim2-LirTpa-zbk3CXOxCA), which I think is uniquely appropriate.

Eddie walked into the station, rubbing his face to try and chase the exhaustion away. It had been a couple days without decent sleep, between overnight shifts and Christopher having a nightmare. Not to mention his own nightmares. 

He shuffled into the locker room, dumping his things and starting to undress. Buck was there, sitting on the bench and tying the laces of his shoes, and Eddie gave him a friendly nod, too tired to properly say hello. 

“You okay man? You look beat. More nightmares?” Buck’s voice was concerned, and Eddie shook his head to reassure him.

“Christopher was fine last night, once I actually got him to bed.” Buck gave him a questioning glance and Eddie elaborated. “He was worried about having another dream so it took him a while to fall asleep. But he didn’t wake up in the middle of the night and didn’t mention any dreams this morning, so,” Eddie said with a shrug.

Buck nodded. “And what about you?”

Eddie sort of regretted telling Buck about his nightmares one of the nights they’d gotten a little too tipsy on Buck’s couch. At least he hadn’t spilled the beans about some of his  _ other _ dreams…

“A couple,” he finally said, buttoning up his uniform shirt. “But I’m fine. I’ll catch you up after our shift.” Buck looked at him skeptically but didn’t say anything.

Eddie stopped dressing to put a hand on Buck’s shoulder, looking down at him. He felt some sort of thrill, an anxiety that felt out of place, but he ignored it. 

“I promise I’m okay, Buck, I’m just a little tired. I’ll have more coffee and be good to go.”

_ For fuck’s sake, can you at least button up your shirt before you touch me. _

Eddie must be more exhausted than he realized, because he didn’t see Buck’s mouth move, but he definitely heard the words in Buck’s voice.

“What did you say?” he asked, but Buck just looked at him in confusion. 

“I didn’t say anything?”

Now Eddie was confused. Chim, who had walked in just a moment before, chimed in. “He didn’t say anything Eddie, but I’m starting to think coffee isn’t going to help at this level of tired…”

Eddie shook his head, trying to clear it. He’d  _ definitely _ heard Buck say something. Right? Maybe he  _ was _ too exhausted. 

Buck patted his shoulder as he stood to leave. “Maybe you should try to lie down in the bunks?”

Eddie sighed, but thought about the idea. Then the bell rang.

Chim edged by him, saying, “sorry, pal,” as he went. Eddie took a deep breath, then followed the others out to the trucks.

**

The next time it happens, Eddie can’t blame exhaustion. He’s been well rested, he’s enjoying family dinner at the Grant-Nash house, and he’s not even a little tipsy, knowing he has to drive home after.

So, he really doesn’t have an explanation for when, as his shoulder brushes Buck’s, he  _ hears _ Buck’s voice say,

_ God, why are we so casually touchy? He’s going to kill me one day,  _ and nobody else hears it. 

Hen is sitting right next to Buck - on the other side from Eddie - and he looks over at her for confirmation. 

“You heard him say something, right?”

He turns to Bobby, Athena, all the others at the table. “Seriously?”

Buck looks at him strangely. “Eddie, it’s because I didn’t say anything.”

“For once,” Chim jibes, and the others, including Buck, start to laugh. 

“The world must be upside down,” adds Hen, and the laughter continues. Eddie doesn’t even crack a smile, still confused. He also feels a twinge of something that feels like...hurt? It doesn’t feel like his own, it feels  _ other _ . 

It feels like...Buck?

He’s so confused. There are other feelings there, it’s more complex than just hurt, but Eddie can’t piece them out, they’re just a jumble. 

How is he feeling these things that aren’t his own? Why does he hear Buck say things that no one else can hear?

**

It’s been happening more frequently lately. He’s noticed that, at first, he got waves of feelings when he was near Buck, though he only really picked up on them when they didn’t match his own. Even the ones that did, looking back, he realized had a distinctly Buck feel. And when he touched Buck, he heard sentences. Sentences that, as other people had attested, Buck did not say out loud. 

Eddie’s best guess was that he was going crazy. He’s fallen in love with his best friend, so maybe he was past crazy already. But this, this had to be some sort of projection, some hallucination. Maybe it was one of his dreams that he hadn’t woken up from yet. 

It had to be some sort of fever dream. Maybe he was sick, maybe he’d hit his head on a call and now he was in some sort of coma, his mind creating fantasies where he could hear Buck say things like  _ God, his abs are gorgeous _ and  _ damn, please fuck me _ . 

God knew he dreamt of that all the time anyway. 

Because he’d heard all sorts of things from Buck, though only when he was touching him. Turns out, he touched Buck  _ a lot _ . 

Most of the crazier things, the ones that drove Eddie crazy, happened when they were working out together. Or when they came back from a call, all sweaty and tired. And Eddie was thinking Buck looked so beautiful, so hot like that, and then he heard Buck saying the same thing? Except no one else could hear it.

So yeah, the idea that he was going insane seemed like the reasonable option.

It was Chris who brought up  _ mind reading _ . Which, of course, Eddie had considered and dismissed, since that would be even more insane than any other possibility. 

But they had been having dinner at Eddie’s house, Buck over for movie night like he did every week. He’d brushed up against Buck’s shoulder as he got up to clear the table. And he’d heard,  _ wish I could have this every night _ . Without thinking, he’d replied, “you can.”

Which was not the correct answer to say out loud, but that wasn’t why Buck looked at him strangely. “I can what, Eddie?” Eddie glanced at Christopher, who also looked confused. 

“I - you said -” Eddie sighed. “Nevermind.” And he continued clearing their plates. Christopher didn’t let it go though. 

“Buck didn’t say anything, Daddy.” 

“Yeah, I guess I just thought I heard something,” he replied. “Anyway, what movie are we watching tonight?” He brought his hand to rest on Buck’s shoulder as he stood behind him and reached over for his plate. 

_ Chris hasn’t seen Mulan yet, I bet he’d love it.  _

Again, Eddie didn’t think before saying, “Mulan it is then.”

The weird look on Buck’s face came back. “How did you know I was thinking of Mulan?” Eddie just stared at him. 

“You - didn't you just say Christopher would like it?”

Buck shook his head, and so did Christopher. “I didn’t, but we must be on the same wavelength, I was just thinking it would be great for him to see. What do you think, Superman?”

“Sounds good, Buck. Can you find it for us?”

Buck ruffled Christopher’s hair and got up to look for the movie. As soon as he left the room, Christopher turned to Eddie. 

“Daddy! I think you read Buck’s mind!”

**

Eddie had spent the next few days arguing with Chris about it. They just had a similar thought process, he reasoned to his son. They were close, it would make sense they thought alike. In fact, he’d added, everyone at work always noticed how in sync they were anyway. Mind reading had nothing to do with it. 

To himself, Eddie wondered why the thoughts  _ sounded _ like Buck. And had to consider. 

He did a lot of internet research, diving into the realm of psychics and pseudoscience and further convincing himself that no one had any reason to believe that mind reading was a plausible possibility. 

But he came to the conclusion that it didn’t really matter. Somehow, he was hearing what Buck was thinking. Either it was a coma or a hallucination, in which case he would just play by the rules of the fantasy, or it was  _ real _ . Either way, this was just something that happened now. He had to learn to cope with it. And, on the off chance that this was all real, he had to be careful not to let Buck know. 

So he was careful. He learned how to discern when the voice was actually Buck speaking, and when it was just a thought. It wasn’t as hard as he had expected. Mostly, he didn’t hear full sentences from Buck. Just flashes, jumbles. He figured most people didn’t think in full, coherent sentences, so that wasn’t so weird. And he could only hear them when he was touching Buck. Yes, that happened often, maybe too often, but it wasn’t always. 

Every once in a while it would be like Buck actually said something, and those Eddie had to be careful of. The random  _ yes, the game is on! _ or  _ god, I can’t wait to go home and sleep _ . He couldn’t respond to those unless he thought about it and was sure Buck had actually spoken out loud.

It was the feelings he got from Buck, more than anything, that threw him off. Those he could feel just when they were near each other, not necessarily touching. He had to be at least in the same room as Buck, and they were louder the closer he was, but they usually stayed close to each other. So Eddie felt most of it. The doubled joy at a call gone right, the double pain when it didn’t. Both his own emotions and Buck’s ran through him whenever they were together. 

He wondered sometimes if there was double lust, double love, but his was so big that he didn’t think he’d be able to tell if anyone else’s was there or not. Probably not. 

Except, a couple times, he thought there might be. The thoughts and feelings he'd gotten before, when Buck looked at him, when he touched him. He thought Buck was attracted to him. But then again, that didn’t mean Buck wanted to be with Eddie. Just that he appreciated Eddie’s looks. Which was nice, but Eddie wanted more. Eddie wanted everything. 

He wandered over to the couch at the station, sitting down next to Buck, their arms touching. It sent a shiver down Eddie’s spine, like it always did. And he heard  _ oh god, he’s touching me again, he needs to stop, he’s going to kill me.  _

He looked at Buck thoughtfully. Buck glanced away from the video game he was playing, briefly, before determinedly staring at the screen. Eddie debated for one more second, before moving his left leg so it was pressed up against Buck’s long right. 

_ This is so unfair, how the fuck is anyone supposed to concentrate like this, Eddie Diaz is going to be the fucking death of me, I swear I’m going to spontaneously combust if he keeps doing this.  _

Eddie hid a small, smug smile as he heard the thought in Buck’s voice. So Buck wasn’t totally unaffected by Eddie. He could work with that. 

He would just have to show Evan Buckley just what having Eddie Diaz could mean. 

**

Eddie’s plan was simple. Woo the fuck out of Buck, using his newfound ability to make sure it was working. Easy. 

Easier said than done. Turns out that Eddie wasn’t really good at wooing. He’s never had to with Shannon. They kind of just...fell together. They just  _ worked _ , until they didn’t. And before that his relationships had all been in high school, where romance wasn’t really required. 

For at least a week, he wracked his brain and scoured the internet, trying to figure out what to do. Every romantic gesture he found felt out of the blue for them. They were friends. How did he just turn around and make it romantic? 

He decided to try for an answer when he was hanging out with Karen, the boys playing in the park together.

They sat on the bench of a picnic table, leaning back and watching the kids on the playground.

“Karen?” he said suddenly, without looking at her.

“Eddie?”

“I, uh. Just. How did you get Hen to date you? Like - how did you get together? I mean, if that’s not too personal a question, feel free to not answer…” he quickly backtracked.

She laughed and he finally looked at her.

“Not too personal Eddie, we’re friends!” She playfully swatted his shoulder. “Anyway, I met Hen at a bar. It was hard to get her to let me in at first, after Eva, but we got there eventually.”

Eddie pursed his lips. “How?”

Karen smiled ruefully. “Well, it was  _ not _ easy, as I said. But I just...paid attention to her. Learned what she needed, what she wanted. How she needed to be loved. And she slowly learned those things about me, once she realized I wasn’t going anywhere. And we still have ups and downs, but that’s what a relationship is.”

Eddie nodded. “So just...pay attention?”

Karen narrowed her eyes. “Is this hypothetical or are you actually asking for advice?”

Eddie felt his cheeks redden. “Would you believe me if I said hypothetical?”

Karen’s laugh was all the answer he needed. “Just show Buck how you feel. I mean, better to tell him first in my opinion, but showing works too.”

He just stared at her in shock.

“You aren’t as subtle as you think, Eddie Diaz. Go get your man.”

**

Well, Eddie had a good way to pay attention to Buck - reading his mind. So Karen’s advice was actually helpful.

His first move was right after a call in the middle of February, in the freezing water of the sewers. Buck sat next to him on the bench, still shivering despite the warm showers they’d taken. He felt the cold like an emotion running through Buck’s body, the feeling distinctly  _ Buck.  _ As usual, their arms brushed up against each other. Eddie heard Buck’s voice.

_ Wish I’d remembered to put extra socks in my locker for winter. _

The next day, Eddie came in with two new packs of socks, regular and woolen. He put them neatly on the top shelf of Buck’s locker before the other man came into work.

When Buck arrived, he opened his locker. Eddie felt the surprise radiate first. Then Buck looked over to Eddie, and he felt the confusion. Eddie shrugged. “I know you get cold.” Then he felt the pleasure, the one that went with Buck’s sheepish little smile, that adorable uptick of his lips. And he knew he was on the right track.

**

So he kept it up. Little surprises in Buck’s locker. Coffee when Buck radiated exhaustion. A hug when the bad calls sent waves of sadness through them both. 

He knew Buck could tell something was up, but wasn’t sure what to do about it. That was fine. Eddie was ready to take this slow. He wanted them to get together when the time was right.

Unfortunately, that was not to be. 

In retrospect, Eddie should have remembered he was the jealous type. He was never extremely possessive or anything like that. He just liked when others knew the people he loved were  _ his _ people.

Which somewhat, though not fully, explained the scene he caused.

In his defense, most of it was for Buck, not for Eddie.

They were just finishing up a call to a minor car crash. Thankfully the injuries to both drivers were not severe. Eddie was treating the older man while Buck dabbed at the slight cuts on the younger woman’s arm.

That was when Eddie felt the extreme discomfort radiating off of Buck. He finished up with his patient and handed him over to Chim, before turning to walk over to Buck.

Where he found the woman flirting and subtly propositioning Buck.

Now, that was her right. In general, Eddie was all for women going after what they wanted. But this was Buck,  _ his Buck _ , and his Buck was extremely uneasy with the blatant attention.

And Eddie, for better or worse, saw red. At the move into his territory, and at the fact that Buck was upset.

So he moved in. He grabbed Buck by the arm, barely registering the thought  _ what the hell is Eddie doing? _ before putting Buck’s face in his hands and kissing him fiercely. All of Buck’s thoughts melted away, or maybe Eddie’s mind was just too muddled to make sense of them. All he knew was the doubled pleasure and joy that both of them were feeling. The sense of  _ finally  _ and  _ home. _

He got in some trouble for that with Bobby later. But he was too smug to care very much.

**

Later, when they’d been making out on the couch for hours, Chris away at a friend, Eddie felt the warmth and heard the words.  _ God, I love this man. _

Without thinking, he broke their kiss to whisper, “I love you too.”

Buck pulled away, a look of shock and confusion on his face. Eddie cursed himself inwardly for being so careless.

“Eddie...I didn’t  _ say _ that. I  _ thought  _ it.” He looked at Eddie thoughtfully. Eddie could see and feel the wheels turning in Buck’s brain. Hear the words going a mile a minute in his mind. “Are you like...a mind reader or something?”

Eddie sighed and rolled his eyes. “Only for you, apparently. Would be much more use with Chris I’ll tell you that -”

He was cut off by Buck’s lips on his.

“That explains  _ so _ much!” Buck laughed. Eddie grinned. 

“I’m glad it doesn’t freak you out. Freaked me out a little, that’s for sure.”

Buck shook his head. “Not even a little. This will be very useful, I can tell. For example, what I’m thinking right now…” He trailed his fingers down Eddie’s arm and Eddie gulped at the very vivid thought of Buck’s that ran through his mind.

“Yes, definitely. I think we should get started on that promptly.”

Buck laughed and kissed him again. “Damn, I love you Eddie. And yes, I said that one out loud.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was so fun to write! Thanks to [matan4il](https://archiveofourown.org/users/matan4il/pseuds/matan4il) and [sibbed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sibbed/pseuds/adamngoodbatch) for organizing this week, the content produced for it was incredible!


End file.
